Who, where, why, and by whom? The fellow on the left, that is. Photo acquired at auction from estate of notable Bay Area gentleman. As usual, no prizes but for recognition and fame. The subject and the circumstances were a puzzle that took a few days to solve. The "Indian" will probably remain a puzzle. Relevance to climbing a stretch but what the hell? Don't wanna give away too much.

Stephen Mather, Sequoia National Park, dedicating the National Geographic Grove in 1916. By Ansel Adams?

Ah! One short of Bingo. Date off by several years. Dig some more. Ansel correct but he was born in 1902.

You didn't ask when... But I'm guessing sometime during 1927-1929.

Ack, meant to ask when as well. But you pretty much got it. I found a guy who is visiting and documenting all the Mather plaques around the country,

http://npshistory.com/publications/mather-plaques/index.htm

and he referred me to Ward Eldridge, Curator at SEKI who set me straight on the history here.

"The photograph looks to have been taken at the dedication of the National Geographic plaque in Giant Forest; this took place on July 10, 1927 and commemorates the contribution of the NGS in purchasing private lands within the boundaries of Sequoia National Park. Here is a link to other photographs of the event in the parks' collection, taken by the parks' photo-concessioner, Lindley Eddy:

[url]
http://npgallery.nps.gov/SEKI/SearchRes ... ageSize=24[/url]

I also found an article at National Geographic regarding this plaque and it looks to have been replaced on the same stump at some point.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/intelligent-travel/2013/04/24/the-pursuit-of-happiness-sequoia-style-sswitz/

I have never seen another photo by Ansel of Mather and I suspect that it's unlikely that they ever met again. No mention of this event in Ansel's autobiography or oral history. The photo came from the estate of William Colby.

Thanks for the effort! Keeps me amused while stuck at home for now.

It was a fun diversion on a cold, rainy day here. Thanks.